The Aksum Empire

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The Aksum Empire began around the 3rd century in Northern Ethiopia (Lindey, 2013). Their civilization is most known for their obelisk that is the height of a skyscraper and their association with the story of Queen Sheba. Other than that visual and written history about their civilization, not much is known about the culture of the Aksum. However, through the field of paleo-ethnography, many archeologists have been able to add to our knowledge of their civilization. Paleo-ethnography is the process of reconstructing a past cultural system through archaeological remains (Feder 188). Due to the extensive research of many archeologists we now know that the Aksum had a rich trade culture, were very artisanal, and may well be the second oldest Christian …show more content…
All the riches and luxuries that all the kings had can be attributed to their extensive trade. Their optimal location near the Nile River and Red Sea gave them access to luxury goods of which they could trade with people from Europe, including the Greek and Roman, Egypt, and Arabia in countries like India and beyond. The trading of the Aksum people became so advanced they began manufacturing their own coins. This action made the Aksum the first sub-Saharan kingdom to mint their own coins. The Aksum made their coins out of gold, silver, and bronze and would sometimes feature the faces of their kings of the time (Phillips 451). The construction of these coins were so detailed and identical, it looked as if they were made with machines causing archeologists to believe that they had very sophisticated tools (Lindey, 2013). Trade acted as the stepping stool for the advancement of the Aksum Empire, but it also led to its demise and the slowdown in the production of their …show more content…
The Aksum were a very artistic people, and it is because of their art that we are able to learn about their culture and are even aware of their existence in history. The most prominent piece of art from the Aksum empire, most likely due to its stature, is the Aksum Obelisk. To us, the obelisk may appear to simply be nicely designed statues, but the obelisk actually served as pit grave or tomb markers for the Aksum kings (Rose 2). The burial art did not stop there, archeologist have found pottery shards in many of the tombs of kings and even the remains of other people (Lindey, 2013). Other than creating art to accompany the dead, the Aksum people created a lot of art that is similar to that of which the Upper Paleolithic people did. Archeologists have found paintings of animals in Aksum tombs and even carvings of animals, like tigers and elephants on rocks, somewhat like the cave artwork of Upper Paleolithic artists (Lindey, 2013). Another Upper Paleolithic like find was a Venus figurine, The Venus of Aksum, which was found in a tomb. The finding of Upper Paleolithic art forms in the Aksum civilization show the impact that trade with the Greek may have had on them (Phillips
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